diff --git a/releasenotes.md b/releasenotes.md
index a51605fbd..b96a1cffd 100644
--- a/releasenotes.md
+++ b/releasenotes.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 - Improve ordering of method registration to support adding methods to generic modules with method constraints #1746
 - Support experimental `@operator(construct)` operator overload.
 - Allow using 'var' to declare lambdas in functions.
-- Add 'warnings' setting and make dead code a warning.
+- Add 'validation' setting and make dead code a warning.
 
 ### Fixes
 - Fix case trying to initialize a `char[*]*` from a String.
diff --git a/src/build/build.h b/src/build/build.h
index 12c160967..d1fd6b35f 100644
--- a/src/build/build.h
+++ b/src/build/build.h
@@ -150,11 +150,11 @@ typedef enum
 
 typedef enum
 {
-	WARNING_NOT_SET = -1,
-	WARNING_NORMAL = 0,
-	WARNING_ERROR = 1,
-	WARNING_OBNOXIOUS = 2,
-} WarningLevel;
+	VALIDATION_NOT_SET = -1,
+	VALIDATION_LENIENT = 0,
+	VALIDATION_STRICT = 1,
+	VALIDATION_OBNOXIOUS = 2,
+} ValidationLevel;
 
 typedef enum
 {
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ typedef struct BuildOptions_
 	const char *vendor_download_path;
 	const char *template;
 	LinkerType linker_type;
-	WarningLevel warning_level;
+	ValidationLevel validation_level;
 	const char *custom_linker_path;
 	uint32_t symtab_size;
 	unsigned version;
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ typedef struct
 	MemoryEnvironment memory_environment;
 	SizeOptimizationLevel optsize;
 	SingleModule single_module;
-	WarningLevel warning_level;
+	ValidationLevel validation_level;
 	UseStdlib use_stdlib;
 	EmitStdlib emit_stdlib;
 	LinkLibc link_libc;
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ static BuildTarget default_build_target = {
 		.link_libc = LINK_LIBC_NOT_SET,
 		.emit_stdlib = EMIT_STDLIB_NOT_SET,
 		.linker_type = LINKER_TYPE_NOT_SET,
-		.warning_level = WARNING_NOT_SET,
+		.validation_level = VALIDATION_NOT_SET,
 		.single_module = SINGLE_MODULE_NOT_SET,
 		.unroll_loops = UNROLL_LOOPS_NOT_SET,
 		.merge_functions = MERGE_FUNCTIONS_NOT_SET,
diff --git a/src/build/build_internal.h b/src/build/build_internal.h
index fa90a6c14..3876e262f 100644
--- a/src/build/build_internal.h
+++ b/src/build/build_internal.h
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ static const char *backends[3] = {
 		[BACKEND_C] = "c",
 };
 
-static const char *warnings[3] = {
-	[WARNING_NORMAL] = "normal",
-	[WARNING_ERROR] = "error",
-	[WARNING_OBNOXIOUS] = "obnoxious",
+static const char *validation_levels[3] = {
+	[VALIDATION_LENIENT] = "lenient",
+	[VALIDATION_STRICT] = "strict",
+	[VALIDATION_OBNOXIOUS] = "obnoxious",
 };
 
 static const char *backtrace_levels[2] = {
diff --git a/src/build/build_options.c b/src/build/build_options.c
index e92af2d9c..5e2b8ffab 100644
--- a/src/build/build_options.c
+++ b/src/build/build_options.c
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ static void usage(bool full)
 	PRINTF("  --lib <name>               - Add this c3l library to the compilation.");
 	if (full)
 	{
-		PRINTF("  --warnings=<option>        - How to treat warnings: normal (default), error (treat as errors), obnoxious (more errors)");
+		PRINTF("  --validation=<option>      - Strictness of code validation: lenient (default), strict, obnoxious (very strict)");
 		PRINTF("  --stdlib <dir>             - Use this directory as the C3 standard library path.");
 		PRINTF("  --no-entry                 - Do not generate (or require) a main function.");
 		PRINTF("  --path <dir>               - Use this as the base directory for the current command.");
@@ -622,9 +622,9 @@ static void parse_option(BuildOptions *options)
 			}
 			break;
 		case '-':
-			if ((argopt = match_argopt("warnings")))
+			if ((argopt = match_argopt("validation")))
 			{
-				options->warning_level = (WarningLevel)parse_multi_option(argopt, 3, warnings);
+				options->validation_level = (ValidationLevel)parse_multi_option(argopt, 3, validation_levels);
 				return;
 			}
 			if (match_longopt("max-mem"))
@@ -1166,7 +1166,7 @@ BuildOptions parse_arguments(int argc, const char *argv[])
 		.link_libc = LINK_LIBC_NOT_SET,
 		.use_stdlib = USE_STDLIB_NOT_SET,
 		.linker_type = LINKER_TYPE_NOT_SET,
-		.warning_level = WARNING_NOT_SET,
+		.validation_level = VALIDATION_NOT_SET,
 		.strip_unused = STRIP_UNUSED_NOT_SET,
 		.single_module = SINGLE_MODULE_NOT_SET,
 		.sanitize_mode = SANITIZE_NOT_SET,
diff --git a/src/build/builder.c b/src/build/builder.c
index cbd705185..c65ad4790 100644
--- a/src/build/builder.c
+++ b/src/build/builder.c
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ static void update_build_target_from_options(BuildTarget *target, BuildOptions *
 	if (options->merge_functions != MERGE_FUNCTIONS_NOT_SET) target->merge_functions = options->merge_functions;
 	if (options->loop_vectorization != VECTORIZATION_NOT_SET) target->loop_vectorization = options->loop_vectorization;
 	if (options->slp_vectorization != VECTORIZATION_NOT_SET) target->slp_vectorization = options->slp_vectorization;
-	if (options->warning_level != WARNING_NORMAL) target->warning_level = options->warning_level;
+	if (options->validation_level != VALIDATION_LENIENT) target->validation_level = options->validation_level;
 	if (options->safety_level != SAFETY_NOT_SET) target->feature.safe_mode = options->safety_level;
 	if (options->panic_level != PANIC_NOT_SET) target->feature.panic_level = options->panic_level;
 	if (options->strip_unused != STRIP_UNUSED_NOT_SET) target->strip_unused = options->strip_unused;
diff --git a/src/compiler/semantic_analyser.c b/src/compiler/semantic_analyser.c
index 612cfe1a2..229bdc6f1 100644
--- a/src/compiler/semantic_analyser.c
+++ b/src/compiler/semantic_analyser.c
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ void sema_error_at(SemaContext *context, SourceSpan span, const char *message, .
 
 bool sema_warn_at(SemaContext *context, SourceSpan span, const char *message, ...)
 {
-	bool is_warn = compiler.build.warning_level < WARNING_ERROR;
+	bool is_warn = compiler.build.validation_level < VALIDATION_STRICT;
 	va_list list;
 	va_start(list, message);
 	if (is_warn)